Anti-Islam Party Supports First Dutch Minority Cabinet Since World War II

By Jurjen van de Pol and Maud van Gaal -
Jul 31, 2010

The Liberal Party and the Christian
Democratic Alliance agreed to form a government with the support
of the anti-immigrant Freedom Party, creating the Netherlands’
first minority Cabinet since World War II.

The “parties accept each other’s differing opinions” on
the characterization of Islam, the parties said in a joint
statement. “However, there’s a lot of common ground: making the
Netherlands stronger, safer and wealthier is a common goal and
starting point.”

The three parties said the Freedom Party will support parts
of a government agreement to be negotiated between the Liberal
Party, or VVD, and the Christian Democratic Alliance, or CDA,
while the latter two take into account wishes of the Freedom
Party. The “willingness” of the Freedom Party, or PVV, to
support budget cuts will be linked to agreements on issues
including immigration, integration and public safety, the
parties said.

It took six weeks and three rounds of talks to reach the
agreement following the June 9 election. The Liberal Party and
Christian Democrats, with a combined 52 seats in the lower house
of parliament, will rely on the Freedom Party’s 24 lawmakers to
gain the smallest possible majority in the 150-seat parliament.

‘Possibilities’

“We’ve concluded we see possibilities for a government
with CDA and VVD with support from the PVV,” Liberal Party
leader Mark Rutte told reporters in The Hague.

The coalition will offer power for the Freedom Party, whose
representation more than doubled in the elections, and the
Christian Democrats of outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who lost half their support.

“It may work out,” said Geert Wilders, leader of the
Freedom Party, which seeks to ban new mosques, curb immigration,
cut development aid and reduce European Union influence. “The
negotiations are yet to start, but if it does work, that would
be great for the Netherlands. I am very happy this offers
chances in the Netherlands to make political cooperation happen
on the right side,” he told reporters in The Hague.

Wilders, 47, receives police protection around the clock
and faces trial in the Netherlands on charges of inciting hatred
in his 2008 film “Fitna,” in which he calls on Muslims to rip
out “hate-preaching” verses from the Koran.

Austerity

Austerity measures are the most important issue on
political leaders’ agenda, with the Netherlands, the fifth-
largest economy in the euro region, needing to narrow its budget
deficit from a forecast 6.3 percent of gross domestic product
this year to 3 percent by 2013 to meet EU rules.

Wilders’ Freedom Party will support an 18 billion-euro ($23
billion) cut in the government budget, Dutch public broadcaster
NOS quoted him as saying on its website.

Queen Beatrix last week asked Ruud Lubbers, a three-time
prime minister, to broker talks among the parties to form a
coalition backed by a majority in parliament following the
election. Lubbers will speak with leaders of the other political
parties on Aug. 2 before reporting back to the Queen on the
proposed minority Cabinet, the government information service
said in an e-mailed statement.

Yesterday’s agreement is “surprising in the sense that
Lubbers was asked to investigate the possibilities of forming a
majority Cabinet,” Labor Party leader Job Cohen told NOS radio.
“Our country needs a stable majority Cabinet in this difficult
economic situation.” The Queen’s adviser should consider other
majority backed options first, in accordance with his task,
Cohen said.